[Last year] has seen the release of some interesting cameras, but the two that have generated the most buzz, the most traffic and the most questions are Nikon's D850 and the Sony a7R III. They're both rather exotic creatures, not quite as other-worldly as the D5 and a9, but hardly the sorts of cameras we're all going to rush out and buy. So why the excitement?

What's interesting about both is just how much better they are than their predecessors, despite superficially looking like subtle re-shuffles of the specifications. The give-away of this leap forward is hidden in plain sight: they may both be updates of their makers' high-res models, but both are also promoted to being among the fastest-shooting models in their respective line-ups.

That makes them much more appealing, well-rounded cameras than their predecessors, which is perhaps why they've generated so much interest. And why everybody wants to know which is best.